Corned Beef and Vegetables

I had never eaten this pre-Thermomix days, and I thought it seemed a bit like ‘grandma food’ so never even popped up on my radar! However, one day I saw it in the shops, bought it and have never looked back! I buy a lot of corned beef every time I go to the shops now, and make this at least every fortnight.

I make this for special dinners with friends and family and I can stretch it up to 8 people. I also make it for a week night dinner with about 5-6 large servings, serve it straight onto plates and also containers ready to pack for my husband to take to work.

For a dinner party, serving up to 8 people

Weeknight dinner, plate servings + containers

Weeknight dinner, plate servings + containers

This is also a great dish to ‘show off’ your Thermomix’s capabilities as it uses both the steaming basket and Varoma steaming tray. All the juices from the corned beef and vegetables is then used to make the BEST SAUCE EVER!!!

All up, I start cooking this dish about 2 1/2 hours before serving time. Total cooking time in the Thermomix takes 2 hours, and I leave about 30 minutes to make the sauce and cut the beef.

Steaming the beef for a total 2 hours

(90 mins alone + 30 mins with veg)

I have made this dish A LOT! I haven’t bought corned beef from the butcher before, but my biggest tip, is to buy the corned beef from Coles!! (and not the lean one)!! I find the one from Woolworths one has heaps more fat, doesn’t come out as soft and moist, and is a lot more saltier than the Coles one (I have tried it a few times if I’m shopping at Woolies and it still doesn’t impress me). There is also a ‘lean corned beef’ that you can buy and I find that too dry (kind of needs a bit of fat to soak itself into ;). Also, use your sharpest knife cut the meat REALLY THIN – somehow it just tastes better!

The sauce is the BEST. It uses the cooking sauce from the beef, but when I’m having another meat dish at home, like steak, I’ll use this sauce recipe separately and use 350 grams chicken stock instead of the cooking sauce. I also use save any leftover cooking sauce and add extra chicken stock to make a sauce for a pasta bake for the boys. I usually add a 210 gram tin of red salmon, fresh corn (or any other vegetables I have in the house), mix in the sauce, top with cheddar cheese and the bake for about 15- 20 minutes at 180 degrees.